


The Lost Children of the Dark Isle

by Peter_Rabbit



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Descendants (Disney Movies) Fusion, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguing, Autistic Logic | Logan Sanders, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Are Twins, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders uses ze/zem/zir, Disney Multiverse, Disney Parody, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Hero Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Hero Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Hero Morality | Patton Sanders, Implied/Referenced Eating Disorders, M/M, Misgendering, Neo Pronouns for Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Nonbinary Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Nonbinary Fairy Godmother (Disney), POV Alternating, POV Multiple, Past Child Abuse, Slow Burn, Sympathetic Sides (Sanders Sides), Teen Angst, Teen Romance, Threats of Violence, Trans Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Trans Logic | Logan Sanders, Trans Male Character, Trans Morality | Patton Sanders, Transphobia, Trust Issues, Villain Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Villain Deceit | Janus Sanders, Villain Logic | Logan Sanders, Villains make bad parents, Villains to Heroes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27781933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peter_Rabbit/pseuds/Peter_Rabbit
Summary: Roman has spent many years gazing out his window to the watch the magic swirl around the island so close he felt he could throw a stone and hit it, and yet the residents were deemed to far gone to be helped. It was something he could believe for the adults on the Isle, but not the children, the ones that grew up only knowing that darkness but were still kids. He just needed to show them the light that he had, show them the good that they can be, and start removing the evil from the world one kid at a time.It won't be an easy journey, proving to the kids of the Isle of the Dark that they can be good and have a life away from the ones their parents had wanted for them, but it's a journey Roman and his friends are willing to make.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Beast/Belle (Disney), Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 44
Kudos: 82





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a project that I am super super excited about sharing! I really hope you will enjoy this journey with me!
> 
> Remus uses ze/zem/zir

Roman walked the halls of his castle home, on the way to his parent’s throne room. His sixteenth birthday was slow approaching, still six months away, but his parents had asked him not a few days ago what he wanted for his present. They had told him it could be anything he wanted and they had requested he told them soon so they could start preparing it. If he was to be honest though, he had been hoping for a gift like this since he was little; he knew exactly what he wanted and only hoped that his parents wouldn’t shoot him down too quickly.

Remus had thought it a wonderful idea when he had explained it to zem, which honestly didn’t fill Roman with too much hope. Remus was known for zir bad ideas and zir general idea of fun being to destroy as much property as possible. However, that was exactly why Roman thought this plan of his could work- If Remus could be the way ze is and still be a (decently) good person, why couldn’t the child of a villain?

He entered the throne room through a side door and made quick work to stand in front of his parents. They both smiled brightly at him, standing to greet him as his father shooed off the advisor, he believed their name was Imani, that was speaking to him. Imani only seemed mildly annoyed as they bowed and left, but not before smiling at Roman in a way that he believed meant “good luck”.

“Well, hello, Roman,” His father greeted and stepped down to be on equal ground.

His mother followed and stepped closer to press a kiss to his cheek, “You’ve made your decision already then, sweetie?” she asked, her smile warm as she took his father’s hand and stepped back to let him speak.

He smiled back, “Yes, in fact I had this in mind since I was a child, though I wanted to smooth out the details with Remus and Patton first.”

His father raised an eyebrow in interest and gestured for him to continue.

“I have decided that I’d like a proclamation to be made to bring the children of the Isle of the Dark to live here in Sanduron and give them a chance of a better life,” He said, with more conviction than he thought he’d have. His parents’ smiles dropped and his father opened his mouth to speak but Roman continued before he could, “We’d start small, a group of three that need our help the most. They’ll be removed from the Isle and brought here to attend school and learn how to be good as any other student of Sanduron High School.”

“The Isle houses our sworn enemies,” His father said the moment Roman paused, “They have committed crimes far greater-”

“Their children have not,” Roman interrupted, not letting himself feel the regret that clawed up his throat at his father’s glare. He wouldn’t back down when he was sure this was the right thing to do, “Their children are being punished for things that were done far before they were born and instead of showing them kindness and mercy we turn our backs and abandon them to the hardships of an enclosed island with only villains to care for them. Do they not deserve a chance to prove themselves, like the chance you had been given.”

His father’s glare hardened, “Roman, my son, you do not understand the forces we are dealing with-” He cut short to look down at his mother who seemed to have tightened her grip on his hand.

She looked up at his father, “He’s right, dear, I gave you that second chance, I looked beyond your walls and saw that golden heart of yours. These children are behind their very own walls, ones they didn’t even put up themselves.”

His glare softened as he nodded, a heavy sigh leaving his lips. Roman took that as a good sign to continue, “I have already chosen the first three.”

“You have?” His mother asked, looking up at him with a patient smile, “Who are their parents?”

He swallowed nervously, “Jafar, The Evil Queen, and… Maleficent.”

“Maleficent?” His mother gasped, “Roman, I’m on your side, sweetie, but Maleficent is the worst of them all.”

“We can’t trust any child of that wicked fairy,” His father growled. 

“Father,” Roman pushed desperately, “Her child is still innocent. Trust me on this.”

There was a tense second, and he almost thought his father would flat out disagree. “Fine. I’ll trust your judgement but I will not trust them,” He snapped. He took a step back before storming out of the room.

His mother had gently removed her hand from his father and took Roman’s hand instead, “You did good,” she said softly once his father had left and smiled at him once again, “But be careful. I fell in love with your father, but it was a long road to taming him. These children may be innocent of what their parents have done, but they will have their own faults, they grew up much different than you have.”

“I know, mom, but, hey, I live with Remus,” He joked, “I can handle some beastly kids.”

His mother laughed, despite herself, “You shouldn’t say such a thing about your sibling, but I suppose you’re right.” She kissed his cheek again before following his father out.

Once the throne room had emptied he sighed, his posture deflating as he relaxed. Remus popped out from behind a curtain by the window, tossing a green apple in zir hands and taking a loud bite from it. “I think that’s the most angry I’ve ever seen dad.”

Roman snorted and shoved zir shoulder when ze got close, “You really are a menace. Were you there the whole time? What were you doing?”

Remus grinned, “I knew you were giving our parents your grand plan today! I wanted to see if it would crash and burn.”

“Hey! You’re on my side, remember! You want this to work out as much as I do.”

“Sure I do! Getting some fresh meat to fuck around with sounds fantastic, especially since they probably won’t be as boring as you and the rest of the damn school.”

Roman rolled his eyes, “And if they are boring?”

“We’ll send ‘em back!” Remus laughed. 

Roman shoved zem again, harder this time, and stifling a chuckle, “We will not! It’ll probably be better for everyone if you find them boring. It’ll mean they’re actually well-mannered.”

“Boo!” Remus near shouted, shoving him back, “What are you going to do, brainwash them into having Tuesday tea with you?”

“What are you going to do, encourage them to set a carriage on fire?”

“Oh, that’s a good idea, actually! You think the Maleficent kid will be down with it? Their mom is a dragon, I bet they can breathe fire.”

“There is absolutely nothing to suggest that Maleficent, let alone her child, can breath fire,” Roman chuckled, “That does make me think of what her kid will be capable of though. Maleficent may not have been able to breathe fire but she could cast fire spells with the flick of her staff.”

“Not to mention shapeshifting and casting powerful curses,” Remus added before shaking his head, “You sure you want to bring this kid over first, especially when bringing over Jafar and the Evil Queen’s kids as well, they may not have magic of their own but their parents were just as powerful when given the right tools.”

“I know, and that’s kind of why I want to help them first. Their parents were awful and cruel to our friend’s parents, power hungry and malicious, and now they have kids of their own. Who knows what those kids have been through all those years on the Isle, alone, with no one to go to for help,” Roman explained, his tone growing sad.

Remus shook zir head, clapping Roman on his shoulder, “Your heart is softer than our own mother’s, bro. We’re lucky to be getting a king like you, and those kids are gonna love you.” Ze took another large bite from his apple. 

Roman smiled gently, “Thanks. I hope you’re right.” 

Remus didn’t let go of his shoulder and instead pushed him along and out of the throne room. He didn’t complain, spending the rest of the day relaxing or doing whatever the heck Remus had planned was fine with him. He did think about the kids he planned to bring over though. Were they too late in saving these kids? They could be just as bad as their parents now with how long they had spent on the Isle. There was no telling what effect their parents had on them and what effect the Isle could have done to add to that. 

The child of Maleficent was someone that Roman was almost scared to remove from the island, despite the arguments he had made for them. They were going to be one of the few kids that would have magic of their very own; magic that they wouldn’t be able to use until they left the island. If they were as confident and strong as their mother they wouldn’t be able to stop them from using their magic once they found it for themselves. His best hope was that the kid would turn out to be good before they tried to make a grab for a way to increase their powers- No one would gain anything from another villain attempting to take over Sanduron, especially the villains’ children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do have trouble finishing long projects like this so I am asking you, the reader, for some help! For every person that comments I will drop whatever I'm doing and write 1000 words (Remember, per person not comment, you can comment however many times you want, I'd appreciate it, but it won't add to my count). The comments can be a long review or just a simple "<3" to say you liked it. Now I will be writing when I can without comments I just get easily distracted so this is a way to force myself to write. The next chapter is already finished I'm gonna post it in a week or after I get five commenters. And don't be pressured to write a comment! This system is for me to write but I'm just happy that you enjoyed my writing!!


	2. The Villain Kids (AKA three nerds in a clubhouse)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil and his friends find out they've been invited to go to Sanduron for school, they're not as excited as their parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said if five people comment I would post the next chapter so here we are! Thanks so much for the support and enjoy!
> 
> Some specific content warning for this chapter is:  
> -Child Abuse  
> -Misgendering Trans Character (Logan)  
> -Lot of Anxiety

Virgil hated it on the Isle of the Dark. The only thing pleasant about it were his two friends (and even then Janus got on his nerves more often than not). Everything about the island made him jumpy and nervous. He may have gained a lot of his mother’s physical attributes, like the sharp features, pale skin and staggering height, but he gained nothing of her confidence in the years of living with her. What he had instead was a very acute sense of Fight or Flight, which usually meant punch first and then run before they could catch you. Janus thought that was funny more often than not.

Thankfully, after making friends with Logan, the situations of which he had to fight and then flee decreased greatly. This was mostly because Logan actually had a place they could stay instead of him and Janus running around the island causing trouble and getting into fights with the Ursula kid he could never remember the name of and her crew. Logan gave them sanctuary in the form of a little club house on top of some rinky-dink laundromat that smelled heavily of soap on a good day and like dirty socks on most days.

Right now, Virgil had taken to spray painting the wall again with his latest design as Logan read from a once waterlogged book that had crinkled the pages when it dried but thankfully hadn’t run the ink. Logan’s brown hair was messily chopped short from where he had frustratedly taken scissors to it a few months ago but it curled into tight coils that made the uneven strands less obvious, his skin was cream white compared to his pink lips and dark eyes, and, while most people were short in compared to Virgil and his mom, Logan took the cake at barely reaching his shoulders. 

Janus slipped in through the small door on the other side of the room. His bleached hair fell over his shoulders and down his back, longer than even Logan’s was before it was cut. He was a good few inches taller than Logan and most of the right side of his face was covered with spots of acne and acne scars that looked red on his brown skin, “Virgil, catch!”

Virgil pivoted, dropping the spray paint to catch whatever Janus hurled at his head. He pulled away the stained cloth it was wrapped in to look over the silver pocket watch with some engraved initials on the back. “Whose is this and why are you putting the blame on me for taking it?” he asked, popping it open, surprised to find it still worked.

“Because I was going to give it to my dad, but he’s currently conspiring with your guys’ moms and I  _ definitely  _ care enough to listen to them squabble about plans.” 

He nearly dropped the pocket watch, “Our parents? Together?”

“Virgil, don’t jump to conclusions, our parents are the leaders of the Isle, they are bound to talk to each other from time to time,” Logan cut in, flipping to the next page of his book.

Janus rolled his eyes and took the pocket watch back, “Virgil, really, you have to calm down. Nothing bad is going to happen.”

“Easy for you to say, your dad doesn’t threaten to turn you into a lizard if you close your bedroom door,” He hissed, grabbing the spray paint off the ground.

“Your mother is incapable of doing magic,” Logan reminded, “Same as everyone trapped in the barrier.”

“Still doesn’t mean she’s not terrifying. Especially when she does worse,” Virgil mumbled. He glanced out the window and furrowed his brow, “Hey, Jay, did you hear any of what our parents were discussing?”

Janus looked up as he dropped into a beanbag chair in the corner, “Something about the people Sanduron being idiots and them ruling again. Standard stuff.”

“So we shouldn’t be concerned about my mother’s goons coming this way?” He asked, looking down at the streets where three large men were stepping in and out of shops, terrorizing random people as they looked for something, presumably them.

Logan sighed and stood, looking out the window with a grimace, “There’s no proof that they’re here for us and, besides, no one knows about this spot but us.”

Janus pushed Logan away from the window to take his spot, “By the looks of who’s coming around the corner I say you’re wrong, book-worm.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, pushing against Virgil to see.

Virgil could feel fear creep up his throat as his mother marched down the street, twisted horns reaching to the sky and her useless, yet still imposing, staff clutched in her hand.

“Virgil, my pet! I need to speak with you!” she called through the street, scanning each shop as she walked. “I know you’re here somewhere, be useful for once and come here!”

They watched her make it halfway down the street, before she stopped and looked up, catching Virgil dead in the eyes. They ducked their heads out of sight but knew it was too late to hide. Virgil could barely breathe, “What does she want? What is going on? Oh, what if she’s finally going to kill me?”

“That hardly seems likely when she’s asking you to be useful and you’re not very useful dead,” Logan replied. 

“Not helpful,” Janus hissed, “Though, he has a point. It’s unlikely she’s going through all this trouble just to kill you. Unless you’ve pissed her off somehow.”

Virgil swallowed and shook his head, “No- No, I don’t think so, but I really don’t want to know what she has planned for me.”

There was a tense moment where the three just sat, letting Virgil catch his breath. Then a hard knock ran through the entire little hut and they shuddered as his mother’s voice pierced through the thin paneled walls, “Virgil, I know you and your friends are in there. Why don’t you all make this easy and come out, your parents and I have some very exciting news; and, if you don’t, I’ll just have my men rip off the wall of your dingy little play house and we’ll drag the three of you all the way to my castle anyway.”

“I’m so fucking dead,” Virgil mumbled one more time before getting up off the ground and ducking out the door into the open air. He slouched in front of his mother, making her already imposing form taller in comparison, and pulled his jacket tighter around him, “Hey, mom.”

Janus and Logan came out as well and flanked him as they watched the goons at his mother’s side warily. His mother smiled with all the warmth of a blizzard and reached out to lift his chin up, “Virgil, my son, you have been a disappoint since the day I had the misfortune of giving birth to you, but you finally have a chance to remedy that.”

His friends didn’t speak up for him, not that he expected them to. Talking back to Maleficent was a mistake itself, it would be even more so for them as she would deal a punishment here and then tell their parents for a second punishment worse than the first. He didn’t bother asking what she meant either; he was sure he’d find out soon.

Her smile only grew sharper as he didn’t answer and grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him forward to walk with her. Her goons took either side of his friends and they glowered at the men as they followed his mother back towards his house.

“Now, I have always known the rulers of Sanduron were idiots, but this new proclamation truly is the nail in the coffin,” she chuckled, “You, my pet, and your little friends, have been chosen by the crowned prince of Sanduron himself to leave the Isle and attend their little school!”

There was a scuffle behind him and Virgil glanced back to see that both Janus and Logan had tried to make a break for it and were now fighting in the arms of his mother’s goons. His mother tightened her grip on his neck, forcing him to keep his head down and facing forward. He could hear his friends struggling a few more seconds before they both gave up, and they all walked the streets of the Isle until they had it to the only decent looking building on the entire island. His mother shoved him through the front door and her goons pushed his friends in after, “Now, please, don’t try to run again you two or I’ll do something horribly wicked,” she threatened and gestured for them to move into the kitchen. 

They all shuffled in to see Logan and Janus’s parents, the Evil Queen and Jafar, glancing over three letters all marked with the royal seal of Sanduron. The Evil Queen looked up from the letters and frowned as they entered, “How come I haven’t seen my daughter in days and you have her in your house within the hour?”

“It’s called discipline, Grimhilde,” Virgil’s mother answered. Virgil looked to Logan and was honestly impressed how easily he could pretend his own mother’s words didn’t faze him, though he had practice and reason to keep calm. If Virgil tried to keep emotionless in the face of his mother, it would only result in her becoming more furious.

“Ah, Janus, pick anything up for your dear old pops?” Jafar asked. Janus sighed and tossed over the pocket watch. Jafar grinned, “That’s my boy.”

“Can we please know more about this apparent proclamation?” Logan finally spoke up, keeping his demeanor cool.

Virgil’s mother sighed and handed Logan the letter addressed to ‘The Child of the Evil Queen’, talking as he read over it, “From what I can tell from the news fluttering around this awful island, Prince Roman has declared his birthday wish to be bringing the children of good and evil together to start a new era of acceptance and love and all that dreadful goodness they throw around.”

Janus snatched up the letter addressed to himself, an annoyed expression crossing his face as he did, “What a  _ fantastic  _ idea: send the kids of villains to the land of magic, there’s no way they’ll look for a way to free their parents. They’re evil so they don’t have any loyalty whatsoever.”

Virgil winced as he realized just why his mother was so excited about this and looked up at her, “I’m guessing you already have a plan?”

She grinned, the expression prideful and malicious, and reached out to pet his head, “That’s right, my smart boy! In six months there will be a nation wide festival for the princes' birthday, Fairy Godmother will be there with her wand to start the celebrations. You will take it right out from under their noses and free me from this wretched prison,” She growled the last part, pulling her hand away as she walked off with purpose.

“Free  _ us _ ,” The Evil Queen corrected with a snap.

“Yes. Yes. You all will be free as well, the barrier will fall and you can do as you please.” His mother waved her off as she opened the cabinet to pull out an old wooden box with a dirtied gold lock. Virgil’s eyes widened, backing away on instinct. He had gotten curious about what was inside when he was five and the punishment he received for simply removing it from the cabinet was still the worst he had ever been given in the nearly seventeen years he’s been alive, he still had the scar on his temple from it. She smirked as she noticed his expression, “Oh good, you remember my lesson. Well there’s no reason to be fearful now, Virgil, come, it’s a present for you.” 

Virgil glanced around the room, just catching Janus’s worried look before slowly approaching his mother. She set the box down on the kitchen counter and then popped off the gem of her ring, a gold key falling into her palm. She opened the box to reveal a worn book. Virgil froze, the color draining from his face, “Is that-?”

“My spell book,” She answered, with a fondness he had never heard from her before as she pulled it out gently, “It doesn’t work here, but it will in Sanduron. I am entrusting it to you with the belief that you will use it to accomplish your goal and protect it with your life.”

“I-” Virgil started but couldn’t come up with anything to refuse her.

“I want it back in perfect condition, Virgil. No notes. No rips. No stains. Not even a folded corner. You understand me?” She held out the book for him to take. 

“Ye- Yes ma’am,” He stumbled over his words, taking the book. 

“Now, they will be here to take you through the barrier and to Sanduron in three days time. I expect you all to be here with everything you need bright and early. Virgil, you are to memorize every spell, starting today.”

“Janus isn’t going,” Jafar spoke up, deeming it a good time to cut in, “I need him here to help with my store.”

Maleficent snapped her attention to him, “Are you an absolute imbecile? In six months time you won’t have any use for that dirty, second-hand, trinket stand. Why bother when he can help bring down the fall of Sanduron?”

“If your boy is capable of magic and only needs to gain access to the wand, I don’t see a reason why I have to lose wares for the next six months. You may have gained your power from pushing and shoving to the top, but some people earned their place with the wealth they gained.”

“Earned?” The Evil Queen butted in with a laugh, “Every tiny trinket in your store is stolen, it’s hardly respectable, and certainly not something you earned since you have your son take everything for you. You’re too cowardly to get your hands dirty.”

Jafar stood up to shout something at the Evil Queen. Virgil didn’t bother to listen, instead he watched Janus as the boy rolled his eyes and slipped upstairs. He slowly backed away from his mother to follow him, Logan trailing after. There was a tense moment Virgil caught the corner of his mother eye and she turned and opened her mouth to say something to him; however, Jafar said something she clearly didn’t care for and shouted at him instead. Virgil bolted upstairs after that, meeting Janus in his room with Logan.

“Well, this is an interesting turn of a events, for sure,” Janus hummed as he was draped over Virgil’s bed, tossing a paint can up and down, “Exciting though, perhaps once Sanduron has fallen and our parents rule the world, I’ll finally be promoted to store manager.”

Logan snorted, taking a seat at the end of the bed, “If we’re shooting for such low goals then I suppose I’ll become a librarian instead of the Evil Princess my mother is expecting of me.”

Virgil sent them a short smile before sitting on the desk across from the bed and staring at the spellbook still clasped tightly in his hands. “Do you think I could actually pull it off? Stealing the wand?”

Logan looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, “Virgil, for as long as I have known you you have wanted one thing and one thing only: The chance to prove yourself to your mother. There is little doubt in my mind that, despite your usual senseless worries, when the time comes you will be able to take the wand and achieve that goal.”

“And no matter what my dad thinks, I’ll be joining you too, there’s no way I’m staying here without you two to keep me sane while my dad accumulates stolen goods. Besides, I want to help and make sure you don’t chicken out and come home with your tail between your legs,” Janus added, which was honestly high reassurance.

Virgil looked up at them with a grin. As the day went by they talked and laughed about what Sanduron would be like. Virgil would like to think that he wasn’t the only one in that room that was hiding their fear with snarky remarks and poorly told jokes, but he had always been the more jumpy of the three. They could make fun of the Heroes and their kids all they want in the relative safety of his mother’s home- Hell, they could walk the streets of the Isle and be as loud as they want about their displeasure of the Sanduron residents.

However, that would change once they were actually in Sanduron. There would be an entire new set of rules and expectations that none of them were privy to and no knowledge of how tolerant the people would be to their inevitable screwups against those rules. What would they do to them if they were rude or mean? On the Isle it was the only way to survive, being the toughest or the meanest or smartest; but he really doubted it was the same in Sanduron. Would they punish them for acting out? Would they smack them when they said something snarky or lock him up if they caught him doing his mother’s magic? Would they send him back once they realized, three weeks in, that he was a lost cause?

He glanced out the window, passed Janus and Logan, to look at the mainland, not even a mile away from his bedroom. The barrier warped and waved around the edges of the island, the magic a sickly yellow that distorted the view out and made the trees far off look fuzzy and dying. He wondered what they really looked like, behind that barrier; did they look as awful as they did from here or were they grand and gorgeous like he was sure the rest of Sanduron had to be? The Heroes lived their lives with castles and riches, fresh food and healthy plants and space to move and stretch. They took advantage of it too, he was sure, they didn’t know how good they had it. He could rip it all away from them, just like his mother wanted, he just had to survive the six months playing nice till the prince’ birthday. Then they would finally be free, for real, and his mother would be proud of the son she had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I want to write a bit more before posting the next chapter so I have some buffers, especially since I have only managed to write 1000 words out of the 5000 I said I would write (it turns out that I zone out like every five minutes and I don't know how to focus). So I will be posting the next chapter next week and no sooner. But each person that comments is still 1000 words into the "Words I Have To Write" bank. Thank you so much for reading and enjoying UwU


	3. Leaving the Isle of the Dark (because your parents suck)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite finally leaving the Isle of the Dark, Logan still manages to have a horrible morning- And it's all his mother's fault, literally.
> 
> (Read Notes for Content and Trigger Warnings)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some specific content warning for this chapter is:  
> -Child Abuse  
> -Referenced/Implied Eating Disorder  
> -Continuous Misgendering and Deadnaming Trans Character (Logan)  
> -Transphobia  
> -Anxiety

The three days that passed had to be the slowest and fastest moving days of his life. The minutes dragged on each hour and yet, before Logan knew it, his mother was barging into his room.

“Esther, dear, today is the big day! Wake up!” She chirped, sounding almost happy.

Logan groaned and rolled over in his bed. He could hear her going through his closet and was already dreading whatever she was going to deem appropriate for him to wear for his first day off the island. He sat up and grabbed for his black-framed glasses on the side table, slipping them on, “Mother, the sun has barely risen, our ride to Sanduron won’t be here for another few hours.”

“Just enough time to get you ready,” His mother didn’t miss a beat, pulling out a navy blue dress with the skirt layered over with black lace.

He sneered at the dress, “Mother please, the pants and shirt I have tailored will be fine for the occasion.”

“You want to impress them, dear, I won’t have my daughter looking like a boy when meeting with the royalty of Sanduron. This is our chance to regain our title as royalty and once again rule. I don’t know how effective that skittish boy of Maleficent will be in actually freeing us, but I have faith you can make some stupid little prince swoon, even if you insist on looking like one of the dirty hooligans you’ve made friends with. Honestly, Esther, you are beautiful enough to have any boy wrapped around your finger and you waste it.”

“Believe it or not, mother, but some people value things other than looks,” Logan snapped, sitting on the edge of his bed.

“Yes, and those things are wealth and power,” She shot back, “Now get up and get yourself clean. I want to do your makeup since you seem incapable of it despite my lessons.”

“Yes, mother,” He said without arguing further and got up as she continued going through his stuff, seeming to be packing all the things he had purposefully left out of his bag. He had prepared for that however and his real, fully-packed-with-everything-he-wanted-to-take bag was tucked under his bed; he just had to swap them before they left.

He took a longer shower then needed to be clean, but necessary for spending as much time away from his mother as possible and getting one last jab at her by using the last of the warm water for the day. Which was not nearly what she deserved with what she put him through the rest of the morning.

Once he was out of the shower she made absolutely sure the he put on a well fitting bra, that the dress she had picked out fit him and accented his curves, that he wore the appropriate shoes and jacket to match, and, to top it all off, caked more makeup on his face then had worn in his tweens in a desperate attempt to feel more feminine. It was the absolute worst send off he could have and yet he had not expected anything different. 

"Oh finally!" His mother exclaimed mostly to herself, pulling the lipstick away from his face, "You look gorgeous. Like mother, like daughter, they always say. I just wish there was some way to salvage your hair..."

Logan exhaled sharply through his nose, "Now that we've spent the last hour and a half making me look like a delicate china doll- Can we please go to meet with my friends so we can leave."

"Yes. Yes. We can leave now; but I want you to really try and charm a prince now. It won't be hard, all men are idiots in their own way," She repeated herself from earlier, "I'm serious now, don't waste this opportunity or your pretty face."

"I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing," He said to appease her, keeping his expression and voice neutral.

She tsked at him, but didn't say anything about it as she started putting away her makeup kit, "Go and grab your bag. Go on. Before I smack some sense into you."

He didn’t hesitate to walk out of the bathroom, heading straight back to his room. He took the bag his mom packed and shoved it under his bed before pulling out the other. A small grin creeped up as he looked in to see his favorite tie poking out from the shirts. It was something he could never wear, at home or even on the streets with his friends, since it was such a boyish and uptight item, but the article would likely be acceptable to wear in Sanduron. That is if "girls" were allowed to wear boyish clothes.

He frowned and shoved the tie in deeper. It was a thought that had plagued his mind a lot these past few days: whether or not Sanduron was just as strict as his mother when it came to clothing or if they allowed some sense of freewill. On one hand, many of the heroes' stories revolved around them breaking free of their assigned roles, but on another, he was told Mulan was nearly killed by her future husband for wearing boy clothing. He was going to take the chance however, the only thing they could do, that he didn't already get all the time on this awful island, was being sent back to the Isle, which, if he was forced to wear dresses everyday, was a better option then staying in a country he knew almost nothing,

He left the room to meet his mother downstairs. She set three cashews in his hand and Logan vaguely wandered, not for the first time, if they ate so little, not because food was sometimes scarce to come by, but because his mother was obsessed with keeping both their figures small and petite, some high mockery of the one or two fashion magazines that she had found on the island some years ago declaring Sanduron's latest trends. He was sure his mother was even skinnier now then the model on the cover, and he, to his own dismay, wasn't far behind. He popped the cashews in his mouth anyway and chewed them slowly; something was always better than nothing. 

With his bag slung over his shoulder and his mother walking just a step ahead of him, they were out. The walk to Maleficent's wasn't, in any way, a long one, even on an island that was only a few square miles, but the brush of the dress on his legs made it seem like he was walking all the way to Sanduron himself. The longer he wore it the more he wanted to tear it off.

Maleficent's place was something that looked like it could have been a castle, if you stripped away the stones and replaced them with metal panels and downscaled it to about one tenth it's size, something fit for the queen of this rotten place. Virgil and Maleficent were already waiting on the doorstep, the limousine that they were told was being sent was sitting in front. Virgil looked up at them as they approached and he could see the pity from the several feet he still had to cross written all over his face. It, honestly, was only a further reminder of what he looked like, but at least he had the small comfort knowing that Virgil was almost as uncomfortable with his physical appearance as he was; some nasty part of him had been worried Virgil would find him more appealing like this.

"Hello, Ms. Grimhilde," Virgil said stiffly to his mother when they got close enough before speaking to him, "It's good to see you, I haven’t seen Janus yet."

"And you might not," Maleficent snapped, "Jafar is a stubborn old man and a selfish bastard."

"Reminds me of someone else I know," Virgil mumbled before regret flooded his features and he ducked his head down.

Maleficent raised her hand to smack him but stopped just before making contact, petting his head instead, in some crude imitation of a comforting gesture. Logan glanced at the limousine and the shadowy outline of the driver in the window, there was no telling if he was watching or not but it seemed Maleficent didn't want to take the chance. "Virgil, my sweet pet, you either prove yourself on this little trip of yours or the moment I get you back in my claws I will make you regret every single disrespectful comment, gesture and action you've ever shown me before turning you into an obedient little henchman, understood?" she hissed with a frighteningly gentle smile. 

Virgil was practically green and Logan couldn't blame him, "Yes, mother."

"Good. I  _ want  _ you to rule by my side, to be the heir to my throne, don't disappoint me now," She patted his head before nudging him forward, "Now, get in. You don't want to keep the prince waiting now, do you?"

Virgil nodded and slipped into the limousine without another word. Logan's mother, to his disgust, started laughing, "Oh my, Maleficent, is that all it takes to keep him in line? Empty threats?"

"Who said anything about them being empty? I don't make empty threats Grimhilde, and if you do it's no wonder your daughter runs off. My Virgil comes home every night before curfew and if he does not-" She waved her hand, almost dismissively, “-Well he knows what the punishment is."

Logan thought back to the one time he and Janus had let Virgil sleep in the clubhouse until after his curfew, thinking he had needed it, only for him to wake up panicked and run home. Virgil didn't show up for another two days, hiding a limp and wearing his jacket despite the summer heat. Maleficent's rules were to be followed and not a single person got her mercy, not even her own son. 

Logan's mother huffed, "She never stays put. I'll send her to her room and she'll sneak out the window. I'll lock her in the closet and she picks the lock. She only comes home to sleep, and even then she occasionally- Oh well I don't even know what she's doing, sleeping in the streets I guess."

"Then smack her," Maleficent said, with less emotion in her voice then Logan could ever master. 

He sneered, "I am standing right here, if you wish to trade parenting tips maybe you should have done so when we were, in fact, children. Now, however, I am leaving, hopefully, upon my mother's request, to find a prince and never come back. Goodbye mother, goodbye Maleficent, may the rest of your miserable life be spent rotting away on this island." He stepped away and into the limousine with Virgil.

He could hear Maleficent shriek in outrage along with his mother's shouting at him about disrespect, but once inside and the door had closed the sound faded significantly. He felt satisfaction that neither witch could do anything to him once in the limousine lest they want to expose themselves as the abusive parents they were to the loyal Sanduron driver in the front seat.

Virgil was curled up in the middle seat, trying to find the perfect distance away from the currently open partition and the door that Logan had just entered. Logan looked him up and down with a frown, "Virgil, where would you like me to sit?" he asked, letting him choose which danger he would rather Logan block him from.

He visibly swallowed, looking from the door to the driver in the front, "My-uh- right? So Janus can get in easier."

Logan nodded and sat between him and the driver, setting his bag in the seat across. "Very well."

The driver looked back, "So, where's the third one?"

"Give him ten minutes, Jafar was still on the fence about letting him go," Logan explained, "We may have to go without him."

Virgil kept his eyes down as he played with the zippers of his jacket sleeve, "He better come or I'm going to end up doing the not breathing thing again."

The driver looked at him through the mirror with a curious look, "Do you mean a panic attack?"

"A what?" Virgil asked harshly, looking up at him, "What's that? You think just cause I freak out I'm going to attack someone?"

"No- I- Nevermind, kid, someone more qualified will explain to you what the "not breathing thing" is when you get to Sanduron," He sighed and looked away, "Is that the Jafar kid over there?"

Logan glanced out the window and, sure enough, Janus was sprinting down the road, his blonde hair tied back and small bag bumping against his back with each step. "It is. I suggest you start driving the moment he enters, lest Jafar.. changes his mind."

Janus made quick work the distance, pulling open the door, opposite of the one Logan and Virgil had come in, and dropped in the seat next to Virgil. "Sorry I'm late, dad wanted to say goodbye, y'know parents," he winked at them, "Let's get out of here."

The driver nodded shortly. He kept his eyes forward as he started driving towards the collapsed bridge. Logan watched with interest, "So, I'm assuming magic will be used to get us across. How will that work?"

The driver held up a remote as the limousine went seamlessly through the barrier, "I press this and.." his thumb held it down and a golden light bridge formed under them, "Tada."

Virgil watched with wide eyes, "So that's magic?"

"Sure is, there's not a whole lot of it left, especially since Fairy Godmother retired her wand, but it's necessary for times like this," He explained.

"It’ll be cute to watch you make sparkles in the air," Janus laughed, poking Virgil's shoulder.

"I'll sparkle you into the sky," Virgil hissed at him and glanced at the driver again. Logan figured he may be scared the residents of Sanduron would be fearful of him if he did have magic, but, unless the prince was truly an idiot, he was sure they were already aware Virgil would have magic abilities.

Janus laughed again and leaned forward to the little cubby in front of them and pushed the curtain aside, revealing several jars of assorted candy, "Oh, jackpot!"

He pulled out a handful of candy and dropped it into Virgil’s lap before stuffing a handful of chocolate in his mouth. Virgil smiled hesitantly and popped a small chocolate in his mouth, humming in satisfaction as it melted in his mouth. Logan took a smile bite of whatever Janus then handed him

The rest of the ride to the school, where they would apparently be dorming, was filled with nothing but them talking about the different candies the limousine had stocked. All of which were sugary and too sweet for Logan to enjoy more than a few. Virgil found out quickly that he had a large sweet tooth and was having trouble not eating an entire jar filled with colorful, hard-coated chocolates that all had the letter M stamped on them. Janus was more partial to the sour candies that had made their faces screw up when they first put them in their mouth, and was sucking on a marble sized yellow candy too hard to chew.

The driver did not talk to the three of them the rest of the time, having rolled up the partition, and it would have been easy to forget he was even there, but they all kept him in the back of their minds. It was not until the old castle was in sight that the driver said anything again, merely telling them that they were arriving and to have their things ready. Logan wasted no time to look out the window and take in the sight of the castle.

It was grand, probably ten times as big as Maleficent's place if not larger, and made of sandy white stones that you'd never find anywhere on the Isle of the Dark. There were more windows than Logan could count in the moving vehicle and more flowers sat in front then could ever possibly grow on the isle, even if the few that did were not immediately destroyed by the residents.

As they pulled up the path, the gravel crackling under the tires, Logan caught sight of what must be the prince standing at the ready for them in front of his father's statue. He was grinning brightly in anticipation, his hands clasped in front of him, his dark hair was swept to the side, and his dark skin was stark against his cream suit. His brother stood behind him, like a distorted mirror, a little taller and lankier, his hair was pushed behind his ears, curling around his shoulders with a bleached and faded green streak in the front. He could make out the beginnings of a mustache and a crooked nose with a scar across the bridge, he almost looked like he was from the Isle despite the green suit he was in, especially when compared to (who he assumed was) Fairy Godmother and her kid. They were both short and pudgy, and had warm, dark skin, with their black braids pulled into buns. They wore matching powder blue outfits and excited smiles (Logan couldn’t imagine smiling that much while standing next to, let alone matching with his mother).

Sanduron was going to be far more different from the Isle then any of them had ever thought. If the prince could smile openly and flowers could grow without problem and there was more space then could be filled by the people already there that they could bring in the children of their greatest enemies, then every fact and rule they grew up on could not be applied here. There was no way to know what was expected of them.

Virgil seemed to realize the same thing as he had scrunched himself up into a ball with his bag now tightly held against his chest, "I change my mind, I want to go back to the island."

"No you don't," Janus said immediately, "You want to go back to our hideout. Everything else on the island sucks."

"I concur," Logan said, slinging his bag over his shoulder, "Let's get this over with. We only have to survive six months for now, okay?"

Virgil nodded, “Okay.” 

The next six months would likely be a different kind of horrid then the island, but in the end they had each other, and that was what mattered most until then. They'd take care of each other. No parents, royalty, destiny or otherwise could tear them apart. The limousine stopped, the doors unlocked, and the three of them filed out to stand in front of the crowned prince of Sanduron.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I'm loving this story and I'm so glad you all are enjoying it a well! The next chapter will be out before Christmas! And please go ahead and leave a little comment if you enjoyed <


	4. First Impressions (which leads to a lot of confusion)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we talk about gender identities for a lot longer then everyone was expecting.
> 
> (Read Notes for Content and Trigger Warnings)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some specific content warning for this chapter is:  
> -Accidental Transphobic Language  
> -Accidental/Unintentional Misgendering and Deadnaming Trans Character(s)  
> -Anxiety  
> -Stealing Comfort Items  
> 

The limo pulled up along the gravel path to the front of the school. Roman spun his crested ring around his finger a few times, the item gave him a lot of comfort in times like this. It was a reminder of his family and his kingdom. A reminder of the people he cared most for and the ones that always had his back. It kept him calm to know that he could always look behind him and there would be someone there to help him when he needed it. He wanted the same for these kids.

The other day the villains had sent back the information sheets they had attached with the letters (though he was very much aware that they were all filled out with the same sharp and regal handwriting) and had a better idea of what the three kids he had invited were like; however he wasn't sure how accurate they were, considering they were almost exactly the same and read pretty much like a villain pretending to be good. He almost completely disregarded the 'likes and dislikes' section of it, as most of it sounded made up, but for there were a few tangible things like 'fashion design' and 'painting'. He did get their names, ages, pronouns, and respective parents though, which would be helpful information. 

The limo came to a stop and as the door opened each teen filed out, Janus, Virgil and Esther. He was surprised at how easy it was to tell the parents of each kid (if it was to be assumed none of them were in some way adopted that is). Janus had dark skin similar to his father's, long blonde hair tied into a low ponytail and wasn't much shorter then himself, he was wearing a worn black studded leather jacket with several colored snake patches, black jeans and a yellow and red tank top. Virgil was pale and tall like his mother, almost comically so standing next to Esther, with purple dyed hair that was short but fell into his eyes that were smudged with black makeup and had a patch work hoodie and ripped dark green jeans and purple shirt. Esther was the shortest, probably just coming up to his chin, her brown curls were short and tight against her head and she wore a blue dress that came to her knees and black cardigan and short heels to match. All three had different bags slung over their shoulders.

He cleared his throat before introducing himself, "Welcome to Sanduron! I'm Prince Roman, he/him pronouns. It's great to have you three here so we can truly begin a new age of acceptance and light." He stepped forward to take Janus's hand first. 

Janus shook Roman's hand with both hands, "It's great to be here as well, my name is Janus. Though I was under the impression your name was De León, not Pronouns," he said with a grin so sharp that Roman couldn't figure out if he was being sarcastic or not. Remus didn't help by snorting before delving into a laugh.

"Remus! Don't laugh!" Patton snapped.

"Pat- Pat, he asked if Pronouns was our last name," Remus said between laughs, "I can't _not_ laugh at that! It's been ages since someone didn't know what we meant!"

"How about explaining instead of mocking us?" Virgil growled, which, amazingly, shut Remus up. "We're not stupid, y'know, just cause you said something weird that we don't understand doesn't mean you get to laugh."

"Virgil," Esther spoke sharply, "Just drop it."

"No! He's gonna laugh at us cause Janus-"

"Ze. My pronouns are ze/zem," Remus interrupted. 

"What?" Virgil snarled, looking at Remus with half-hidden confusion, "What the fuck are seezems?"

"Okay!" Fairy Godmother called out, getting everyone's attention, "Obviously there has been a bit of a misunderstanding, and I think we should clear it up now."

"Yes," Roman agreed, "Janus, Virgil, Esther-" Esther flinched at the name and Roman would have to ask for her real name next, "-I am sorry for my sibling, ze doesn't always know when to keep zir mouth shut. It was not our intention to offend you or insinuate anything. Introducing oneself with their pronouns is a practice me and my sibling have started in Sanduron to help avoid assumptions and misunderstandings about one's gender. I use he/him pronouns, so when talking about me you would say things like: ' _He_ is the prince' and 'I just saw _him_ starring in the school play.' My sibling uses the pronouns ze/zem, so you would say: ' _Ze_ is a public menace' and 'I saw _zem_ eat from a jar of mayonnaise.'"

"And I'd do it again," Remus stuck out zir tongue. 

"To avoid assumptions about gender?" Esther asked, "So gender isn't based on appearance, then? And, Remus uses pronouns that aren't for a girl or boy, so is there a third gender? Was he- I mean, ze born that gender?"

"I really didn't account for the fact you all would be interested in gender, but-" Roman sighed, realizing that they were about to blow into a whole conversation explaining gender, sex, and likely delving into sexuality as well. Standing in front of the school with only a half hour before the lunch bell rang was not the most ideal place to have that conversation, "We have a club room for our GSA, our Gender-Sexuality Association, why don't we all head there where we can better answer your questions."

"Though to answer some of those questions," Remus chimed in, "Gender is not two or three boxes, it's like an entire spectrum with new labels all the time to call yourself or no labels at all if that's what you prefer."

Esther's eyes went wide, "A spectrum? But there are only two types of-"

"Gender is different from physical aspects!" Patton said quickly, "And, well, there _are_ more than two because some people are born with- uh, both or different.. y'know, stuff?"

Fairy Godmother cut in before Esther could ask another question, "We really should move this to the club room."

"Right, come along new friends, we'll show you the way." Roman gestured for them to follow as he walked around his father's statue and towards the school. 

"New friends?" He heard Virgil question softly, likely thinking he was out of ear shot.

"If he considers us friends, I'd like to know who he considers an acquaintance and what they did to piss him off," Janus replied back with a snicker.

The walk to the GSA club room was a bit far, the room being on the other side of the school from the entrance. They were silent all the way there. He glanced back a few times on the way to make sure the villain kids were okay and still following close behind. They were glancing around at everything, eyes darting into door windows and scanning the wall posters, paintings and trophy cases like they would be tested on the most inspirational quote they read or who was the Tourney Best Player of 2015. It was almost sad to see how on guard they were, like every corner they turned would lead to an obstacle or challenge. He knew the island must have been hard to grow up on but it was worse seeing the actual effect of it on teens his own age. He wondered if on the island there was a challenge around every corner, if it was important to memorize your surroundings at all times, and the more he thought about it the more it made sense. There was probably always someone out to get you, especially when villains rarely got along before they were all shoved on an island together, it wouldn't be too surprising if some villains had tried to go after their rivals' children, or even if the kids fought each other like the parents would.

One last look back as they're about to reach the door of the club room that was covered in colored sticky notes and a rainbow flag hanging out of the mailbox on the side. Virgil was playing with twin zippers on his sleeves that were surprisingly silent as he pulled the slider up and down. Esther was frowning deeply as she pulled harshly on her dress, looking like she was about to start ripping it and Roman was starting to think that she likely wasn’t a she at all, or at least was curious about any gender that involved not wearing a dress ever again (which was still any gender but it was clear she didn't like the dress she was wearing, and would likely do anything to get rid of it). Janus was playing with a few of the rings on his hand that he hadn't noticed before, the gold was tarnished on a lot of them, likely from years without a proper cleaning. Roman went to touch his own ring only to find his finger bare. He stopped dead, looking down at his hand to double check he had somehow touched the wrong finger, but nope, his crest was gone.

Remus tilted his head, looking Roman up and down at his sudden change in demeanor, "Uh, bro, something wrong?"

"My crest is gone. It must have fallen off somewhere, I- I have to find it," He said, eyes sweeping the floor and hand pulling on the finger the ring had sat. How long had it been gone? How did it slip off? Why hadn't he noticed sooner? It could be anywhere in the halls and if someone picked it up he may never find it. 

"Does this mean you're not answering our questions?" Esther asked, as she looked up at Roman with a scowl.

"No- No, Patton, Remus and Fairy Godmother can answer your questions, I'm going to go back and retrace my steps," Roman answered and was already walking past everyone to scan the halls.

He heard a soft curse as he passed Janus but didn't look back until he called his name, "Prince Roman, wait, I have your ring-"

"Janus, what the fuck did you do?" Virgil hissed.

"I _found_ it, Virgil," Janus said pointedly, though it sounded more like he was telling Virgil then explaining, "I saw it on the floor and picked it up. Simple as that."

Roman frowned as he looked between Janus and Virgil. It was an obvious lie. He didn't think Janus had stopped the entire time they were walking, let alone long enough to pick anything up, and he definitely would not have known it was Roman's if he had found it unless he saw it somehow slip off his finger and therefore should have said something then. He also noted that Janus had been the only one to shake his hand before they had gotten off track.

"You're gonna get us sent back to the Isle on day one. Do you _want_ to go back?" Virgil's shoulders were shaking as his hands curled and uncurled, looking like he wanted to yell and was only holding back because of the company they were in. 

"No one is getting sent back to the Isle," Fairy Godmother said quickly, "Janus said he found it and we'll take his word for it."

The villain kids all looked shocked at that, certainly not expecting the story to be taken at face value. Janus was already looking a little paler, Virgil was wound tighter than a clock, and Esther had actually stopped pulling at her dress to stare at Fairy Godmother with consideration. However, showing them that they would be listened to and trusted was currently more important than Roman's feelings on his stolen ring, this wasn't the time to teach an ethics lesson or punish them when it could be easily rectified.

Roman held out his hand towards Janus, he wanted to be angry but right now he'd just take the ring back. Janus passed it over with slight hesitation but didn't say another word. Roman slipped it back on and twisted it around his finger once as he carefully spoke as to avoid letting his anger slip in, "I just remembered that I have some homework to do, I'll meet back with you guys later. Patton, fill me in on anything I missed later, okay?"

"Oh, okay, Roman, see you later." Patton sent him a small smile. 

Roman nodded and stepped away, heading down the hall.

"Roman, I'm sorry," Janus said behind him, making him pause for a second before continuing to walk away.

By the time he rounded the corner he was half tempted to rip up the nearest inspirational poster, but he took another deep breath and twisted his ring around his finger a few times as he walked. He wasn't sure exactly where he was walking to now but he knew it was better to stroll the empty halls then to try to talk to anyone about it. He didn't want to give anyone the wrong idea about the villain kids on the first day, that would just make this harder on everyone. He could talk to Fairy Godmother about his feelings later, she'd know best on how to handle those and how to talk to Janus about what happened. Right now he just wanted to be alone.

Janus had tried to take his ring- _Had_ taken it- without a thought of what the consequences would be and how Roman would feel about it. His crest was important to him, and his family, even Remus wore his on a chain around his neck. The rings were special to them both; and, without knowing anything, Janus had slipped it off his finger. If Roman hadn't said anything he would have kept it for himself.

He eventually found his way to the auditorium and he walked down the aisle, past the plush, red seats. The stairs creaked softly as he stepped up to the stage. Most of the lights were off but that didn't deter Roman from spinning around on the stage humming. _Tale As Old As Time_ , his mother and father's song, was almost as much a comfort as his ring was in times like this. They had sung it often to Roman and Remus when they were children, a way to cheer them up after those minor inconveniences that would bring them to tears. It only took a couple steps of one-sided ballroom dancing for him to start singing the song to himself, thinking about his parents' story. 

When anyone heard the story of how his parents got together they always pinned Gaston as the main antagonist. He was, in a way. He was certainly the villain of the story; but the true antagonist to his father was his father's own anger and pride. It took his mother's kindness and patience to get his father to nurture and grow the good inside of him. He just needed to do the same with Janus and the other villain kids. It wouldn't do him any good now to have the same temper his father had when he was a nasty beast.

The last lyric fell from his lips and he ended the song by plopping down on the edge of the stage, glancing down at his crest. It was fine, not a scratch or even a clump of dirt stuck in the fine details. The lion head was still roaring proudly in front of the golden shield and sword stamped into an open story book. It represented the many stories of the nations and the pride and honor everyone had for them. Did the villain kids have the same pride for their stories? Did they honor their parents and what they did? He didn't know which was worse, having pride in a villain or zero pride in your own parents.

He shouldn't have walked away. The villain kids probably think he's already given up on them; that a tiny slip of hand and a stolen ring was all it took for Roman to completely abandon the idea of helping them. Why wouldn't they think that when they were already abandoned on an island for no reason at all but having parents. Would it be better for him to go back now and apologize for walking away? He should, but when thinking about seeing Janus again his heart beat a little faster and he didn't want to get there and be angry at the teen for something that was already done and apologized for. 

When they were finished he was sure Fairy Godmother would find him again, she was good at that. She always knew when she was needed by one of her students most and knew how to help them, and he certainly hadn't been very subtle with his emotions when he had walked away from the group; and, if she didn't find him herself, he knew he could go to her at any time. She had been so open about the idea of inviting the villain kids when he and Patton had told her, gushing about her own experience with the villain kid in her own story, Cinderella. She brought a whole new perspective to his plan and she grew his confidence in it working. Even now she was able to handle the situation with a grace he couldn't accomplish and was likely continuing to put the kids at ease when he had failed to do so. He was so grateful to have her and Patton on the forefront of this with him, he needed their calm nature and emotional intelligence in this when he wasn’t able to bring it himself. 

He started humming another song under his breath, a slower version of Fairy Godmother's classic song, _Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo_. He smiled to himself as it lifted his spirits, the song was often used by Fairy Godmother nowadays when fixing problems the students had around the school. He loved hearing it, and he hoped that the villain kids would get to hear it as well, that they would feel comfortable enough to go see Fairy Godmother with their problems and have them be solved. He could only hope for now but the healing process had already started with them, and he couldn't wait to meet up with Patton later and hopefully get Esther's real name, if what he thought was true, that would be one more step in the right direction.


	5. The GSA Meeting (where we learn we're all queer, sorta)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janus reflects on a few things as Logan gets a proper outfit change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some specific content warning for this chapter is:  
> -Outing a Character Without Permission (Virgil)  
> -Slight Referenced/Implied Child Abuse

Janus watched Roman storm off down the hall, his own hands going to the rings around his fingers. It had been second nature to slip the ring off Roman's finger, a slight of hand he used often on the isle. This wasn't the first time the trick had consequences, but it was the first time he had felt guilty for doing it.

Which wasn't right, he hadn't felt guilty when he slipped it off his finger; he had been smug, reveling in the knowledge that their time on the island had made them self aware and taught them skills the prince had no way of warding himself against. The prince of Sanduron was soft. That was good to know. Yet, the distress that had crossed Roman's face when he felt the ring missing was so innocent. He never suspected him, never pointed his finger in his direction. Janus was so used to taking the blame he had expected it immediately. Instead, Roman, almost stupidly, went to go look for it, as if the perfectly fitted ring could have suddenly been prone to slipping off. 

For the first time in years Janus admitted to stealing something he hadn't already been caught for. Okay, well he didn't admit to it- In fact he tried to lie about where he got it. It wasn't his best attempt at a deception, and the sudden fury on Roman's face when he said it was enough to know that he hadn't believed it, but he still didn't get angry towards him. Roman didn't yell. He didn't hit him. He didn't turn to Fairy Godmother and demand a reprimand. He just walked away. It was somehow better and worse then what he had been expecting. Sure, he wasn't being hurt or punished over his impulsive act, but he also didn't get to be angry back. Instead he felt bad. Janus hated that. 

"Jay, what were you thinking?" Virgil snapped at him as Roman turned out of sight.

He hissed at him, "I was thinking: Y'know, I've been here a good two minutes, let me fuck it up with a little thievery and betrayal."

"Well you succeeded," Logan mumbled under his breath and Janus lunged at him.

"Children!" Fairy Godmother shouted, as Remus caught Janus before he could get close to Logan. She took a deep breath, "I understand that this is a stressful transition, but you can't start a tussle in my hallways."

Janus grumbled, "Sorry, I'll try to remember fighting stays outside."

Remus caught Virgil's hand before it could smack him in the back of the head, "This would be funny if I wasn't the one in the middle of it," ze chuckled awkwardly.

"Look who's not following the rules now," Janus snarked. 

"You two are both acting like children," Logan said, "And I, for one, would like to actually learn something since no one on the island thought it necessary to teach me anything."

Patton frowned and held out his hand, "Here, come on, I think you're anxious to figure out what we've been talking about. We might have a bit in common."

Logan looked him up and down before going past him into the club room, "I will not be taking your hand but I would like to know what this whole gender business is, thank you.”

Janus rolled his eyes and shoved Remus off him before following Logan into the room. The room was as brightly lit as the hallways with the addition of the windows along the opposite wall. Many brightly colored flags hung from the walls, all different combinations of colored stripes with the biggest being a rainbow flag hanging from the white board, there were also many of the same rainbow flags in different places, in fact nearly every decoration was rainbow themed. The desks were all pushed into a circle instead of facing the white board like Janus had imagined a classroom to be. There was a new looking coffee machine in one corner, a couple bean bag chairs in another, and a large stash of art supplies in the one opposite. The room really had more fun, new, and colorful things in it then Janus had ever collected for himself in his lifetime on the island. 

Virgil grimaced as he walked in to hide his awe, "Lot of.. colors in here. You guys like rainbows."

Remus laughed at the comment as ze walked in. Ze pulled a beanbag from the corner and shoved it in the middle of the desk circle, "Yeah, and hopefully you'll like 'em too. Rainbows mean you're gay." Ze dropped into it with a grin, certainly not caring at how wrinkled zir suit was getting.

"Or any other variation of LGBTQIA+," Patton added, counting the letters on his fingers.

Janus sat at a desk with his feet in the chair next to it. Virgil took his place sitting on a desk, and Logan sat in a desk properly, crossing his ankles begrudgingly to avoid anyone looking up his skirt, though Janus doubted anyone in the room would, but if someone did he would put his money on Remus, he didn’t seem as good-two-shoes as the others. Patton sat at another desk facing Logan as Fairy Godmother sat at the teacher's desk that closed the desk circle and sat in front of the window. The desk had two little flags sticking out of a pen holder, one having mirroring stripes of grey, white and pink and the other was four stripes of yellow, white, purple and black. 

Logan hummed to himself, "I have no idea what this LGBT-etctera is, but I am familiar with the term gay, that's what Virgil is."

Janus snorted at that, "Sure is, isn't that right, lover boy?"

"Oh my fuck, guys, I said Gaston’s kid was hot once!"

"Would you have fucked him though?" Remus asked pointedly, causing Janus to laugh and for Virgil to turn bright red.

Fairy Godmother cleared her throat and Remus actually managed to look sheepish at that. She tapped her pen on her desk, "Remus, that's not an appropriate nor a welcome question to ask Virgil. Now, I think this starts our lesson one about gender and sexuality: No one gets a say on what someone else's sexuality or gender is. A person decides that for themselves and they get to decide who and when to tell someone about it. You shouldn’t out your friends or anyone else, for that matter."

They talked for what must have been two hours. Janus was honestly amazed at how many terms and words there were to describe what gender you were and what genders you liked. Somewhere along the way they found out that Patton was like Logan, where he was thought to be a girl when they were kids but was actually a boy, which immediately made Logan go into rapid fire questions about his experiences. The nicest part was that Logan actually loosened up a bit, seeing their friend happy when it was so rare on the island. 

Remus was helpful too in that ze kept the conversation from getting too overwhelming. Ze would often cut off Patton to make a joke that seemed inappropriate but would make Virgil or Logan snort and redirect their attention long enough for Patton or Fairy Godmother to think of a better way of explaining, even if ze was chastised for the comment most of the time.

They came to a stopping point for the day and Fairy Godmother stood, "I think now is a good time to start our tour. I'm sure you three want to get properly familiar with your surroundings."

“Actually, if you could show me a place to change first, I’d love to get out of this dress. I have clothes I prefer in my bag.” Logan stood as well. 

“Of course. I’ll show you to the restrooms,” Fairy Godmother answered, walking to the door and holding it open. She considered something for a moment before looking at everyone, “We never did properly ask you all your names and pronouns, did you want to go in a circle real quick?”

Logan looked nervous for a second and glanced at him. Janus took the cue to start, “Janus, he/him pronouns.”

Virgil went next, “Virgil, he/him pronouns, I guess.” 

“Logan, he/him pronouns,” Logan said and Janus could see his shoulders sag, a smile slipping on his face for a second before dropping again as his hands moved up and down before grasping at the fabric of his skirt.

It was a stark difference from the first time he had come out to them, where he had stuttered, his body shaking, terrified of what he and Virgil were going to say. Janus would lie and say they had been fully understanding and supporting then, but, well they had never heard the term transgender before, let alone what it meant and people like that. They had grown to understand Logan over time and Janus was glad the Sanduron was able to understand him immediately. 

“It’s great to meet you Logan,” She said fondly, “And same to you, Virgil and Janus, Now let’s get you into more comfortable clothes. You boys behave now."

Logan followed her out and they disappeared down the hall. Virgil kept his eyes on the door. He was always more skittish when he couldn't keep them both in his line of sight. Remus stood from the bean bag chair and smacked him on the back, getting a startled yelp from him.

Janus hissed at Remus for scaring his friend and Patton opened her mouth to say something but Remus was already talking, "So do you really like guys or were your friends just hounding you?"

"Remus, please, leave him alone," Patton said before Virgil could speak, "You don't have to answer that, ze doesn't know when to give someone space." 

Virgil skirted away, "Yeah, well he should, cause next time I'm kicking his ass."

"Oh, I'd love to see that, String Bean, you think you can take me in a fight?"

"A spoiled little prince- I mean.. a royal.. whatever- A spoiled brat in a prissy green suit and a wimpy mustache? Yeah I could take you. Bet you wouldn't last a day in my house. Let alone the rest of the island."

“I use the term Princex, and I-” 

"Is it.. hard in your house?" Patton asked gently, cutting Remus off. 

It threw Virgil off for a second, "I- Well, yeah- I mean, no! No! I can handle my own home fine. You wimpy Sanduron kids couldn't though."

"That's enough," Janus said calmly, "As Fairy Godmother said, no fighting in the school." 

He threw a glare at Patton for prying like that. They had to be careful about what they said to them, they didn't know what they could trust. Sure, they understood Logan but that was because some of their own were transgender, not because they wished to understand them. Virgil didn't want anyone knowing what it was like with Maleficent, and some tiny, prep boy was not going to be the one to drag that information out from Virgil without hurting him more in the end. Virgil's indebtment to his mother for being born would be paid off at the start of the summer when they completed the mission she sent them with. 

Janus would be done helping his father as well. No more stealing trinkets- rings, pocket watches, fine clothes, and non-magical lamps for his father to sell in a back alley shop, sometimes right back to the original owner. He had been doing it since his father could put him to work and it will be interesting going from the pits of poverty to becoming the kings- the sultans his father had sought out many years ago. He wondered if he'd ever be able to break those habits, if this plan worked and he'd have his own palace with his father, and he'd be able to walk the walls without stuffing shiny things into his jacket.

If he wanted to stay here with Virgil and Logan he'd have to break that habit. It would do none of them any good if he was sent back to the island for his misconduct. Not to mention his room would likely look like the lamest dragon's hoard ever, since he wouldn't be able to do anything with the stolen items. 

Like Roman's ring.

"So," Patton said after the minute of silence, "What are you guys looking forward to most about going to school here?"

If Janus were to answer honestly he'd have to say learning about all the royals and finding the weak points to manipulate when the time was right. Good thing Janus was well equipped at not being honest, "Meeting some friendly faces. Virgil, Logan and I have gotten along since for a few years now, having met through our parents, but the rest of the kids around the island were less keen about us."

"I guess learning something about magic," Virgil answered before either Sanduron kid could question him on what he meant about the other island kids, "If I'm allowed to that is."

"Why wouldn't you be allowed to?" Remus asked.

Virgil looked at him flatly, "If I have to explain- actually, never mind, there isn't a single reason why I shouldn't learn magic."

"Well, there's not," Patton agreed surprisingly, "Magic is part of you, isn't it? We can set you up with some magical history classes. We don't have any actual classes for learning it though, since we don't have any students that need it, but I'm sure my mom could give private lessons."

Janus could not blame Virgil for his dropped jaw. Teaching the son of Maleficent to use the magical poweress he had never had access to before did not sound like a good idea if you were the ones currently keeping Maleficent locked on an inescapable island and the son could, and did, still hold loyalties to her. They all had to be stupid; or they had complete faith in being able to turn them good before Virgil tried something.

Virgil slowly closed his mouth and swallowed, "Magic lessons. With Fairy Godmother... And her wand?"

Janus surprised himself by being able to keep a straight face. Virgil could have been a bit more subtle.

"Oh, no." Patton shook his head, "My mom retired the wand awhile back. She won't be bringing it out again until Roman and Remus' birthday celebration." 

“She won’t bring it out any sooner?” Virgil asked, instead of standing down.

“No. She doesn’t want to solve problems with a wave of her wand. She wants to work through them so she can learn from them and become a better person and help the people around her better themselves as well,” Patton explained further, frowning at Virgil. This conversation was going south at a significant rate, he should probably say something before Virgil said anything else stupid.

“Oh. That’s actually a good idea, I don’t think my mom learned how to do that. Uh, solve things without magic that is. She is kind of bad at it,” Virgil stupidly replied. Janus didn’t know if that was better or worse then talking about the wand. 

Patton’s face quickly flicked through a few emotions: concern, understanding, pity, before landing on a sad smile, “That’s something you’re a lot better at than her, huh? I bet you solve a lot of problems by yourself without her.”

Janus could see Virgil’s intake of breath, the widening of his eyes. It occurred to him that no one had ever told Virgil he was good at anything, with the exception of Logan’s off-hand appreciation of his graffiti art. In fact, he didn’t think he or Logan had ever received a compliment either, except from their own parents talking about his ability to steal and Logan’s beauty, neither of which sparked pride in them anymore. 

That didn’t sound like something that would be normal in Sanduron. What was it like to be complimented and appreciated for every little thing you did, no matter how mundane. That’s probably what these princess parents did to their kids. It had to make them soft.

Their parents did what they had to to make sure they survived. That’s it, they wouldn’t have made it if they had been coddled. Their parents were doing what they thought was best, and now they had an opportunity to free them from the island, so they could rule the world by their parents’ sides.

Janus had always been good at lying to himself. 

“Er, yeah, probably,” Virgil stuttered out, his face turning pink, “Thanks.”

Remus slipped next to him and whispered in his ear, “Ten bucks says they’re dating in a month.”

Janus’s eyes flicked between Virgil and Patton, “I say six months, after your birthday.”

Remus snorted and rolled zir eyes like it was the dumbest thing ze had ever heard, “Alright, snake eyes, you don’t know Patton like I do. He thinks your man is cute, and by the looks of it, Virgil’s getting heart eyes too.”

“You don’t know Virgil like I do,” Janus answered without explaining further. 

Virgil was going to do anything to get validation from his mother, or maybe he’d do anything not to feel his mother’s wrath. It was hard to tell the difference these days. Maybe there wasn’t a difference. Either way, Virgil wasn’t getting closer than this to Patton, he wasn’t going to risk feelings getting in the way of what they had to do. It was just what his Maleficent had taught him.

The door opened and Logan stepped through, barely concealing a smile as he dressed in an outfit Janus had only seen when the three of them had squeezed themselves into Logan’s tiny room. A rumpled black button up shirt with the sleeves pulled up to his elbows and tucked into a slightly oversized pair of blue plaid pants held up by a studded belt. Chains and some other little toys hung from the pant loops, one of which he was toying with in his hand. His tie, which was something he kept secret for a long time, was tied nicely around his neck.

Remus wolf whistled, to everyone’s chagrin, “Looking handsome. Though maybe you should lose the tie, it’s a little too serious.” 

Logan frowned at him, “Maybe you should lose the suit, it’s a little too becoming for you.”

“Well if that’s what you wanted Logan you could have just said so,” Ze purred, once again, to everyone’s chagrin, as ze pulled off zir suit jacket and then started unbuttoning zir pants. 

“Remus, you will keep your clothes on,” Fairy Godmother said sternly, “Do not make me write to your parents again.”

Remus groaned and buttoned zir pants again, “Yes, Mx. Godmother.” 

“Thank you. Now let’s get this tour started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The amount of times I rewrite entire sections of these chapters is.. alot. I deleted half this chapter at some point cause I wanted another character to talk in one specific place and I felt it changed the entire scene..  
> I'm trying my best, lmao. Hope you enjoy this chapter!


	6. Classes Begin (but we have more important things to discuss)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After classes start Janus finds out the whereabouts of Fairy Godmother's wand. Virgil wants to ask Patton about it but gets some very different information instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some specific content warning for this chapter is:  
> -Referenced Unfair Treatment From Teachers  
> -Referenced/Implied Child Abuse

Virgil pulled his bag out of his locker, along with his Magical History textbook, and shut it, turning to Logan, who was leaning against some other person's locker, "Did I ever tell you I think Mr. Philips is out to get me?"

"Yes, you have," Logan answered with a roll of his eyes, "And my chemistry teacher is trying to prove I'm cheating based purely on the fact that I'm advancing faster than he thought I would be given my "circumstances''. Just be lucky the teachers here tolerate us at all."

He grumbled at that, "I just think it's a bit convenient that he starts teaching the class about my mom's spindle curse the day I walk into class." 

"He most likely did it on purpose, Virgil," Logan said, the sarcasm going over his head or he was just tired of him complaining about it, "Though I can't begin to determine what he hopes to gain by forcing the knowledge of your mother's curse onto you."

"Neither can I," Virgil started walking back to their dorm room, Logan by his side. 

They had started classes a week ago. Fairy Godmother had let them pick out whatever classes they wanted, given that they didn't take any real classes on the island, and therefore just had to pick a starting point they could work off of. Virgil had two art classes, and one of each of the four core classes, english, science, math and history. His last period he took private magic lessons with Fairy Godmother; she even helped him with the spells in his mother’s book, not that he’d ever tell his mother that. 

The art classes were actually a lot of fun, and the teachers encouraged his creativity. One was classical arts, where he actually got paint and nice brushes instead of half empty spray paint cans. The other was a digital design class, which he was having trouble figuring out the pen and tablet, especially when they introduced new programs, but Fairy Godmother had said he couldn’t quit it after three days and had to keep at it for a bit longer. He kind of thought she just didn’t want to bother putting him in a new class; but, considering her involvement and her reassurance that she just wanted him to get the hang of it before deciding he didn’t like it, it almost made it hard for his brain to believe that… almost. 

Math was the hardest considering he had only really been taught addition and subtraction and the basic time tables, so the teacher had to take him step by step through each problem. She never seemed annoyed with him but she did give him sad looks sometimes when he still didn’t understand how to cross multiply a fraction like apparently everyone else could. He also had to write out PEMDAS on the top of every one of his papers so he didn’t think he was advancing very quickly. 

Science was a class on oceans, so he thought it’d be easier considering he lived on the island, but there were apparently more to oceans than just waves and fish. Surprisingly enough however, he was actually super interested in it, so, while he did have to put in a bit of extra research, he didn’t mind it as much. 

English was pretty alright too, he liked being able to just read books and then write things about them, even if some of it was tedious and the teacher used words he didn’t always understand. Like, what the fuck was a soliloquy and why it was important? He managed a C on his first paper though, so he could be proud of that for only knowing what was going on half the time. 

So far, though, Magical History was the worst thanks to Mr. Philips, who was determined to make him as uncomfortable as possible by describing his mother's curses and magic in as grim detail as possible and calling on him to answer every other question. He swore that even Aurora's daughter was sending him pitying looks at this point. 

Janus was already in the dorm when they got there, going over some notes on his bed. He looked up when they entered. Virgil set his stuff next to his own bed and kicked off his shoes.

Fairy Godmother had been kind enough to give them one of the bigger rooms and shove in a third bed against one of the walls. There was still only two desks, but considering only Logan regularly used one of them it had never been a problem, especially since shoving another one in would make it a little cramped considering they also had a third dresser that wasn’t meant to be in here and an entire couch facing a tv and gaming system (it was amazing any Sanduron student got anything done when apparently everyone had video games hooked up in their room). 

“Virgil, did your Magic History teacher tell you about the Museum of Stories?” Janus asked, setting his pen down.

“Do you mean, ‘Has he stopped talking about your mother’s dumb spinning wheel and how it nearly killed an innocent young woman and doom a kingdom to a thousand year sleep?’ Cause if that’s what you meant, then no.”

“Please don’t get him started,” Logan said to Janus as he sat down at his desk and pulled his own work out. Virgil flipped him off. 

Janus sighed and patted the bed, “Well my class talked about it today and it turns out a bunch of artifacts from our parents and everyone else are there.”

“So?” Virgil questioned, sitting down on the end of Janus’s bed and crossing his legs.

Janus turned his laptop to Virgil (which was school issued as well), “Well look what’s in it.” 

Virgil looked at the screen and his eyes widened, “Is that-?”

“Fairy Godmother’s wand, just sitting there in a museum, it’s like they _want_ it to be taken.”

Logan stood from the chair abruptly and walked over, taking the laptop to look for himself. 

“Do you think you could-?” Janus was the best thief on the isle, possibly in all of Sanduron, they could be in and out of that dusty museum in half an hour. They could free everyone on the island _tonight_.

“I can certainly try,” Janus answered his unfinished question, “How’s your magic coming along? It would be helpful.” 

“I probably know enough, there’s a few temporary spells in here I can manage.” 

“Are we sure we want to try?” Logan spoke up, “This will take planning, a preliminary survey, alibis. If we don’t succeed we need failsafes in place to ensure we’re not immediately sent back to the isle for attempted treason.”

“Is it _really_ treason if we don’t pledge our allegiance to Sanduron?” Janus asked with a smirk.

“I’m serious, Janus, this is a risky venture. It has to go smoothly,” Logan insisted, “During the birthday celebration we have the perfect opportunity to grab it as it will be out in the open, unguarded, Virgil will have grown in his magical abilities and our months here will have lowered their guard into thinking that we're loyal to them and not our parents. If we attempt to take the wand now and get caught there will be nothing holding them back from sending us right back to the isle and back to our furious parents."

Virgil gulped at that last bit, "Okay, yeah, Logan's got a point. We only have one chance and getting the wand at the celebration is the best point." As much as he’d love the minimal praise he would get from his mother for speeding the plan along, he was even more afraid of whatever plan she had for him if he failed.

Janus sneered, "But it's just sitting there. It won’t even take me fifteen minutes. It’s not like it’ll be during the day, during a crowded party, surrounded by seasoned heroes."

"It's not ‘just sitting there’, the pictures of the wand clearly have it in some sort of magic force field, not to mention any other protections around it," Logan argued. 

"Alright. How about this," Virgil cut in, "Let's start planning the break in, if we think we can pull it off without any chance of getting caught then we'll go. If not, we can wait for the birthday celebration."

Janus and Logan both sighed, sending a small glare to the other. 

"I guess that makes sense."

"I suppose that's satisfactory."

They spent the rest of the night researching about the wand and the protections it was under from the websites they could find until it was reaching Logan's self-assigned bed time and he made them all stop. Virgil wasn't planning on sleeping anytime soon, however, already worried about this plan they had barely started. Logan had been right that this plan could not fail. They could not go back to the island without the wand. His mother would kill him, or worse, find some way to make him wish she would kill him. He didn't put either past his mother. 

The next day, after his second period class, he went to go find Patton. If anyone knew about Fairy Godmother's wand it had to be her son. He just had to make sure he asks subtle questions, make Patton think he was leading the conversation; which wouldn't be too hard, Patton often talked enough for the both of them.

He stepped into the bathroom where he watched Patton go in and leaned against the wall, "Hey Patton, how's it going?"

"Virgil! It's good to see you. Did you need to talk to me?" Patton chirped, drying off his hands.

"Uh, no. Why do you think that?"

Patton chuckled, "Most people don't try to look casual in a bathroom. So what was it? I'm always here for you, kiddo."

Virgil hoped he wasn't blushing, "I'm pretty sure I'm older than you," he said instead of answering the question.

"I like to think of everyone as my kiddo, that's what being a dad is all about." Patton winked at him, which only confused Virgil more. 

"Pretty sure you're not a dad," He said hesitantly. He wasn't a hundred percent sure but none of the kids here seemed like the type to fool around.

"Maybe not in a literal sense!" Patton answered unhelpfully, as Virgil had no clue what that meant. It was probably best just to change the subject.

"I- uh- wanted to ask about the Museum of Stories. I've heard of it but my Magic History teacher won't talk about it with me for some reason," he said. The "some reason" was Mr. Philips didn't like him for shit and he also hadn't asked, but Patton assuming he didn't know why, however, would make him feel sorry for Virgil. 

"Oh! Well, that's not right," Patton tutted, reminding him a bit of Fairy Godmother when he asked about one of the smaller curses in his mother’s spell book, "If you want we can talk to my mom about that. Your teachers should communicate with you, whether that be answering the questions you ask or giving a reason as to why they won't."

"It's fine,” Virgil said, “Really, there's no reason to start drama over a dumb museum, I just figured you'd know something about it."

"I _have_ been a few times,” Patton replied, with adorable pride over visiting a museum, “It's actually a pretty cool place. It has all the artifacts our parents have been able to recover from their adventures since their happily ever afters. Maybe we can set up a field trip for you and your friends to visit it sometime in the future. It'd give you guys your own perspective on what the stories are like here in Sanduron."

"You mean like how they're always and completely happy here?" Virgil grumbled. He actually didn't want to legitimately go to some museum to see the things from a bunch of heroes' goody-goody lives where everything was always easy for them. He shifted his bag, hoping to hop out of this now useless conversation as it would now take too much time to swerve it towards the wand before the bell rang.

"Only the endings are happy, Virgil," Patton said before he could turn to the door. "I mean, a few of them start happy too, but a lot of our heroes' stories start in hardship.”

Virgil frowned and stuffed his hands in his pockets, "You're mother is a fairy, what hardships could she have possibly gone through?"

Patton smiled sadly and Virgil almost felt guilty for asking, "My mother hasn't had her own share of hardships, that's true, but she has spent half her life dedicated to helping others, and continues to do so. Have you heard the full story of Cinderella and her prince, Virgil? You know how my mother helped her and why."

"Uh, yeah, kind of. Cinderella was this lazy servant girl who, like, stole jewelry from Lady Tremaine's daughters' to go to the ball with, and when she was caught and fired your mom took pity on her crying pathetically in the garden and made her pretty. She went to the ball and stole the prince away for the whole night and no one else got to even talk to him," Virgil replied, though he could tell by Patton's frown that he got something wrong, "Guessing from your face that that's not right, though, huh?"

"Not really. For one, Cinderella was Lady Tremaine's stepdaughter, not her servant."

Virgil's mouth fell open. With how he heard Lady Tremaine speak of the princess he would never have guessed they were family. (Only because she regarded her own daughters so highly. If his mom had said the same things about Cinderella he wouldn't be as surprised she was her daughter).

Patton continued, "How _we_ know the story is that after her father had passed Lady Tremaine forced Cinderella to start taking care of the house after all servants were let go. Cinderella spent years in the house, doing what she could to avoid her stepmother's senseless punishments and belittlement. Then the ball came around, Cinderella wore her mother's old dress that had been newly trimmed with scrapped fabric Lady Tremaine's girls had tossed out. They tore apart the dress when they saw it, completely destroyed the thing and then went to the ball without her.

“It was then that my mother stepped in and gave her the chance to spend one night without fear or despair. She magicked her dress back, and a few other things, before sending her on her way to the ball. It was never her intention to meet the prince. He simply became enamored with her right then, and he grew to love her even more as they talked all night; and still it wasn’t weeks later until they saw each other again, Lady Tremaine had found out and tried to keep her away."

"I… never knew any of that. Lady Tremaine was mean but I never thought she could hate one of her own kids. I mean, she _loves_ her daughters, not to mention her grandkids; she thinks they're the best thing in the world," Virgil said. 

"Really?" Patton asked, "So, you've actually met Lady Tremaine?"

"Oh, yeah, Logan went to see her for sewing and dressmaking lessons and me and Janus would tag along sometimes, mostly cause we had nothing better to do. Lady Tremaine hated all three of us," He snickered, "Was better than going home though."

"Better then going home?"

"I- Well- Look at the time!" He snapped with a forced smile, definitely not going to answer that question. He backed towards the door "Better get to class. Really informative talk, Patton, lots to think about, thanks!"

He pushed his way out and took long strides away from the bathroom and towards his next class. If there was one thing great about being the tallest kid in school it was that he could out walk little Patton in a matter of seconds.

It just wasn't worth it to go dumping out everything his mom has done to him. What happened when he was home, on the island, was none of anyone’s business but his own. It was practically a normal occurrence on the island anyway and he didn't need some fairy boy pitying him when his mom wasn't even here.

Besides, if his mom ever found out what he'd end up saying it wouldn't matter if he got the wand or not, she'd tear him apart.

That wasn't normal, probably, being terrified of what your mom might do if she found out that you've been talking about her. It didn't seem normal at all in Sanduron to be scared of your parents, which was also kind of weird in it's own way. How could someone not be scared of the one authority figure you saw almost everyday that decided whether or not you ate or where you slept or if you could leave the house the next day? Apparently, Sanduron kids didn't fear those things being taken away.

Except, maybe Cinderella had. 

He thought that Cinderella was just some stuck-up servant girl that got more then she deserved, but that might not have been true. It was kind of hard to believe, and maybe he shouldn’t believe it. Patton or Cinderella or whoever had just as much reason to lie about the story as Lady Tremaine did.

However, it did always seem a little off that Lady Tremaine got sent to the island for firing a girl when most people were sent for attempted magical murder. Maybe if the landlords that denied the Frog Princess’ her restaurant at first were also sent to the island that would have been believable, but they hadn’t. Child abuse, though, was apparently a good enough reason to be sent over; which, made sense, in a way, most villains didn’t make good parents. 

Maybe it _would_ be a good idea to visit the museum first. Just to scout ahead and see the layout of it, of course. They could see if there were any cameras or something like that. He’d ask Fairy Godmother about setting up a field trip during their magic lessons today.

He slipped into his desk and pulled out his textbook; he wondered if they had an exhibit on Cinderella he could check out at the museum as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Already started the next chapter! 😊


End file.
